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Cox Admits to Being Not Net Neutral

DSL Reports today investigated and reported on forum complaints regarding peer to peer performance being sub-par on Cox's cable Internet service. As someone who is a user of a Cox-built cable network (now owned by Suddenlink Communications), I can attest to allegations that p2p throughput is typically "weak and random."

Robb Topolski, who initially discovered Comcast's traffic shaping practices, took a look at Cox's connectivity at the behest of DSL Reports. In analyzing user logs, he concluded that "Cox is indeed using traffic shaping hardware to send forged TCP/IP packets with the RST (reset) flag set."

This has the net effect of disrupting torrented and eDonkey traffic, in a technique similar (but not identical to) Comcast's treatment of BitTorrent.

After the story broke on DSL reports, Cox Communications' David Deliman (Product Communications Manager) responded with the following corporate speak:

To ensure the best possible online experience for our customers, Cox actively manages network traffic through a variety of methods including traffic prioritization and protocol filtering. Cox does not prohibit the use of file-sharing services for uploads or downloads, or discriminate against any specific services in any way. To help our customers make the most out of their Internet experience, we take proactive measures to ensure that bandwidth intensive applications do not negatively impact their service. These network management practices are outlined in our subscriber agreement and Acceptable Use Policy.

Essentially, the rough translation is: "We shape our packets. Most of our users aren't torrenters, and thus preventing them from using their desired p2p utilities benefits the larger user base as a whole (or at the very least prevents us from having to lay more fiber and open up more bandwidth, thus saving us money). The needs of the many (or the shareholders) outweigh the needs of the few (the p2p users)."

As someone who used to work during the early days of broadband for Cox Communications and over the years has seen his friends leave the Internet division one by one (generally over oppressive corporate philosophies), the spirit of the company has morphed from what used to be mom-and-pop mentality into the attitude typically ascribed to MaBell: "We're the [cable] company. What are you gonna do about it?"

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